Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2133-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2133-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Review article
| 
12 Nov 2025
Review article |
| 12 Nov 2025
| 12 Nov 2025
Phanerozoic paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic evolution in Svalbard
Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7031, Norway
Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen 9171, Norway
Peter Betlem
Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Oslo 0806, Norway
Victoria S. Engelschiøn
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo 0562, Norway
William J. Foster
Department of Earth System Science, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Sten-Andreas Grundvåg
Department of Geosciences, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9019, Norway
Mads E. Jelby
Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Morgan T. Jones
Department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience (EMG), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Grace E. Shephard
Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB), University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australia
Kasia K. Śliwińska
Department of Geo-energy and Storage, The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Copenhagen 1350, Denmark
Madeleine L. Vickers
Department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience (EMG), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Valentin Zuchuat
Mineral Resources, CSIRO, Australia
Geological Institute, RWTH-Aachen University, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Lars Eivind Augland
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Jan Inge Faleide
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Jennifer M. Galloway
Geological Survey of Canada (GSC)/Commission géologique du Canada, Calgary, AB, Canada
William Helland-Hansen
Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Maria A. Jensen
Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen 9171, Norway
Erik P. Johannessen
EP Skolithos, Sisikveien 36, 4022 Stavanger, Norway
Maayke Koevoets
Geological Survey of the Netherlands (TNO), Utrecht 3584 CB, the Netherlands
Denise Kulhanek
Institute of Geosciences, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Gareth S. Lord
Equinor, Bergen, Norway
Tereza Mosociova
Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen 9171, Norway
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Snorre Olaussen
Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen 9171, Norway
Sverre Planke
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
Volcanic Basin Energy Petroleum Research AS (VBER), Oslo
Gregory D. Price
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom
Lars Stemmerik
Department of Geo-energy and Storage, The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Copenhagen 1350, Denmark
Kim Senger
Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen 9171, Norway
Data sets
Table: Review of Phanerozoic Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Evolution in Svalbard Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14334260
Model code and software
Dataset and Interactive Plot for Smyrak-Sikora et al., 2025; Phanerozoic paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic evolution in Svalbard. Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikroa and Peter Betlem https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15405159
Short summary
In this review article we present Svalbard’s unique geological archive, revealing its climate history over the last 540 million years. We uncover how this Arctic region recorded key global events, including the End-Permian Mass Extinction, and climate crises like the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. The overall climate trend recorded in sedimentary successions in Svalbard is discussed in the context of global climate fluctuations and continuous drift of Svalbard from near equatorial to Arctic latitudes.
In this review article we present Svalbard’s unique geological archive, revealing its climate...
